Psychology: Court Observation and Summary Report - Mental Health

This report presents a court observation assignment focusing on the psychological question of how accurately we can determine if someone is fit to stand trial. It summarizes three journal articles related to mental health and competency to stand trial. The first article emphasizes the importance of psychological competence for defendants, highlighting the role of forensic evaluations. The second article explores different methods for assessing fitness to plead, advocating for a new system that considers a spectrum of abilities. The third article underscores the role of neuropsychological assessments in determining fitness to stand trial. The report synthesizes these findings, concluding that competency assessments, including neuropsychological evaluations, are crucial for accurately determining a defendant's fitness to stand trial, while acknowledging limitations such as lengthy court procedures and potential for corruption. The report highlights the importance of expert evidence and the need for legal professionals to better understand neuropsychological assessments to ensure fair judgments. This report is a comprehensive analysis of mental health evaluations in legal contexts.

Running Head: COURT OBSERVATION
Court Observation and Summary
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Affiliation
Instructor
Date

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Court Observation And Summary
Court Observation Assignment
PART 3: REPORT
You should fill in and submit this template via Turnitin on Moodle by Sunday 7th October
11.59pm (Week 10).
Surname Student Number
First Name/s Word Count
Psychological Question
1. What psychological question have you chosen to address?
Refer to the assignment sheet on Moodle for the list of psychological questions.
Question 7- Mental Health: How accurately can we determine if someone is fit to stand
trial?
2. Briefly explain how this question is relevant to the case you described in Part 2:
Observation & Summary.
The issue of mental illness is taken into consideration during the trial. This state is
considered so that a determination of whether the response being given by suspect,
witness or even the plaint makes sense. Psychiatrists are tasked with testing whether one
is sane or not. In some cases, an accused can raise a defense that he or she is not in the
right state of mind. This can also be raised by a judge after noting that the responses

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Court Observation And Summary
being given do not make sense at all. As such, one has to accurately consider the accused
state of mind and how mentally fit one is, to stand trial.
Journal Article 1
3. Provide the reference for the journal article in APA Style.
E.g., Kemp, R. I., Towell, N. A., & Pike, G. E. (1997). When seeing should not be
believing: Photographs, credit cards, and fraud. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 11,
211-222.
Hoge, S. K. (2016). Competence to stand trial: An overview. Indian journal of
psychiatry, 58(Supplementary 2), S187.
4. Summarise the article. You may use subheadings to answer the following:
Aims of the study
The study mainly aimed at determining the importance of psychological competence for
one to stand trial. Hoge states that a defendant’s psychological competence is assessed
so that the capacity for him or her to stand trial is determined. This is a common practice
done across the globe through forensic evaluations. He further states that in 10% to 15%
of the cases presented in court, defense attorneys usually have doubts about the mental
capacity of defendants. As such, over 60,000 defendants are usually referred to
professional psychiatrists so that pre-trial assessments are done leading to the
determination for competency to stand the trial before them, (Chrisholm, Tulich &
Blagg, 2017, 85). The main aim in this study entailed the provision of an overview of

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Court Observation And Summary
“competency to stand trial”, commonly referred to as ‘adjudicative competency.’
The methodology that was used
The research was carried out using a qualitative approach. Here, the researcher mainly
relied on past literature, court observations, carried out interviews on psychiatrists,
defense lawyers and also relied on statutes and court cases. Statutes and decided court
cases are good platforms for collecting information pertaining to the accuracy of one’s
mental health condition during the trial. Also, defense attorneys and judges have a first-
hand experience on how the state of mind affects a trial process, (Corrigan, 2018, 34).
Results of the study
From the study, Hoge points out that there are certain legal requirements that have to
be met. These requirements were summarised by Richard Bonnie when examining
adjudicative competency. As such, these requirements are essential for constructing
specific purposes mainly; preservation of the dignity of the criminal processes, reduction
of risks aligned to erroneous convictions and finally protection of the decision making
autonomy that defendants have, (Freckelton & Keyzer, 2017, 771).
In terms of getting accuracy, the author states that forensic evaluations should be made
so that defendants are found to be mentally fine or not. One method of achieving this is
when defense counsels request for assessments to be made. Self-incrimination should
be avoided during this stage despite the privilege of doing assessment being under
protection, (Freckelton, 2017, 8). It is his finding too that defendants must have decision
competency. This entails the ability to make essential decisions that mainly come up
during adjudication. These include taking of the plea, plea agreements, and defense
strategies.

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Court Observation And Summary
How the article informs my psychological question
For a defendant to be determined if he or she is fit to stand trial, an assessment of
Competence to Stand trial has to be done under the request of a defense counsel. This
leads to the determination of whether the defendant is mentally right or not. As such,
Hoge’s article clearly indicates the necessity for competency to be assessed. By doing
this assessment the defendant will be certified to stand trial hence having the capacity
to understand criminal charges before him, implications of becoming a defendant, roles
of the prosecutor, defence counsel and jury as well as the ability to work hand in hand
with his or her attorney, (Gooding et al., 2016, 816).
Journal Article 2
5. Provide the reference for the journal article in APA Style.
Rogers, T. P., Blackwood, N., Farnham, F., Pickup, G., & Watts, M. (2009). Reformulating
fitness to plead: A qualitative study. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry &
Psychology, 20(6), 815-834.
6. Summarise the article.
Rogers, Farnham and Watts, the authors, are determined to study different methods and
approaches that can be used to enhance the procedures used in determining whether
one is fit to plead. By using a qualitative approach, the researchers carried out the

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research to see whether defendants are being accorded the chance to have mental
assessments so that their rights are observed. Secondly, they carried out the study to look
into accusations of unfair treatment of mentally ill defendants during the trial process. As
a result, their human rights are infringed, (Hoge, 2016). It is on this basis that they raise a
question as to whether the Pritchard approach is fit for use during mental health
assessment. In addition, their main aims are; determining how the term ‘fitness’ is
constructed and used. Secondly, how the term ‘fitness to plead’ may look like or mean if it
was formulated afresh today. Lastly, to determine the problems faced in the current
system especially when an unfit defendant is presented in court.
The research was done in London with the help of ‘Coutserve Legal Information Centre
Directory’. Chief Clerks were contacted through emails, telephone calls, and letters. The
participants were criminal barristers who had extensive experiences in their practice. This
was zeroed into those that handled defendants with issues of fitness. 15% of those invited
for the study took part, (Ritchie et al, 2013). The researchers used semi-structured
interviews. The results indicated that the rate of unfitness was high amongst defendants
as well as a high rate of those that were prejudiced during the trial. Also, one’s fitness to
plead was considered to have several parts as opposed to one collective approach used
by the Pritchard technique. Also, one's plea of being innocent during the trial was hard to
arrive at especially when many grounds were raised so that a defendant could be found
guilty by all means. It was also raised that fitness to plead should be separated from
fitness to stand a trial and as a result, a distinction should be made. The researchers
found out that there were several omissions in the methodology used. This entails the
ability of a defendant being presented at the witness box to state what he knows or does
not know. Therefore, cross-examination was not taken into consideration, (Rodgers et al.,

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2009, 820). The other issue raised entails how the procedure is time-consuming and
cumbersome because psychiatrists were involved at later stages, postponement of the
trials by judges and poor methods of collecting evidence.
In a nutshell, the researchers proposed the adoption of a new system. By doing so,
‘fitness’ should be given a new definition by stating that it should be a spectrum of one’s
ability to take part in a criminal trial. There are different abilities that have to be looked
into in different stages. For example, individuals with mild impairments can enter a plea
without the need for recalling evidence being presented before the court, (Stewart &
Hepner, 2015, 888). On the other hand, those suffering from anxiety can follow
proceedings but may lack the ability to be cross-examined. Being a method used in the
past, there is a need for new techniques to be used especially with the change in times
and different concepts around the legal institution
Journal Article 3
7. Provide the reference for the journal article in APA Style.
White, A. J., Batchelor, J., Pulman, S., & Howard, D. (2015). Fitness to stand trial: Views of
criminal lawyers and forensic mental health experts regarding the role of
neuropsychological assessment. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 22(6), 880-889.
8. Summarise the article.

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Court Observation And Summary
White et al., indicate that there is a need for experts to raise their opinions on how those
standing for trial can be assessed to have the right mindset or not. As such,
neuropsychological assessments take lead for ‘fitness to stand trial’ to be determined
conclusively, (Van eta l., 2015, 75). This makes the legal profession and its process
credible in the end particularly in terms of human rights being taken into consideration. In
this study, the authors state that forensic mental health experts have the duty of
providing expert evaluations which help judges and attorneys, as well as informing the
decision making process. Satisfaction amongst defense attorneys can only be achieved by
the provision of expert evidence hence the acknowledgment that justice will be dispensed
fairly. It is the authors’ proposition that psychological assessments must be carried out in
situations where intellectual capacity and brain impairment raise concerns, (White et al.,
2015, 881). In this study, the main aim included the identification of levels of
understanding inclined to neuropsychological assessments by mental health experts and
assessment practices. Also, it aims at looking at lawyers’ perceptions of the importance
and quality of reports provided to them.
A qualitative approach was used with 35 participants taking part in the research. This
included 10 solicitors, 17 criminal lawyers, seven judges, 5 forensic psychiatrists, 9
psychologists, 2 law policy makers, 2 law academics and 14 forensic mental health
experts.
The results collected indicate that there was a poor understanding of roles played by
neuropsychology especially in the criminal justice system. Also, psychiatric evaluation is
mainly known by many lawyers. In addition, cognition was noted by experts to be a factor
that should be understood well. This leads to the understanding of what causes mental

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Court Observation And Summary
illness and how it should be dealt with, (White & Batchelor, 2013).
Conclusively, it was recommended that lawyers, judges, and experts should have a better
understanding of neuropsychological assessment so that defendants do not become
‘victims’ of unfair judgment in the end.
Conclusion
9. Synthesize and critically discuss the reviewed evidence, and provide an answer to
your psychological question. You should consider the following:
Given the psychological research you have reviewed, what do you think is the answer to
your psychological question?
For accurate determination of whether one is fit to stand trial, he or she should be
subjected to a competency assessment with the help of neuropsychological assessments as
indicated by White et al., (2015). Psychiatrists are tasked with carrying out evaluations
hence providing expert evidence on whether one is fit to stand trial or not.
How well does current research answer this question? Are there any limitations?

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Court Observation And Summary
Research has answered this question positively to a larger extent. However, it should be
considered that the wheels of justice turn slowly. Court procedures still take long,
assessments are noted to be lengthy and expensive and the issue of corruption arise so that
defendants do not incriminate themselves or raise a defense of insanity. On the other hand,
legal experts at times do not have the right knowledge to understand the expert answers
given to them by psychiatrists, (Young et al., 2018, 128).
Where might future research focus in answering this question?
Future research may focus on technological interventions in assessing a defendant’s mental
state so that the assessment process is done in a quick way and more accurately.
10. What recommendation would you provide to the criminal justice system in regards
to your psychological question and why?
Human rights should be observed at all times so that there is a fair dispensation of justice.
Individuals suffering from mental illness should be treated fairly by allowing them to
undergo mental assessment. This will ensure that they raise a solid defense to the
accusations before them.
References

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Court Observation And Summary
Chisholm, R., Tulich, T., & Blagg, H. (2017). Indigenous young people with fetal alcohol
spectrum disorders: The convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and
reform to the law governing fitness to stand trial in Western Australia. Law in
Context, 35(2), 85.
Corrigan, M. (2018). Aboriginal justice: Major report makes key access to justice
recommendations to reduce indigenous incarceration. Bulletin (Law Society of South
Australia), 40(3), 34.
Freckelton, I., & Keyzer, P. (2017). Fitness to Stand Trial and Disability Discrimination: An
International Critique of Australia. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 24(5), 770-783.
Freckelton QC, I. (2017). Huntington's Disease and Fitness to Stand Trial: The State of
Western Australia v Lowick [2016] WASC 339, Fiannaca J. Psychiatry, Psychology and
Law, 24(1), 1-9.
Gooding, P., Arstein-Kerslake, A., Andrews, L., & McSherry, B. (2016). Unfitness to stand trial
and the indefinite detention of persons with cognitive disabilities in Australia:
Human rights challenges and proposals for change. Melb. UL Rev., 40, 816.
Hoge, S. K. (2016). Competence to stand trial: An overview. Indian journal of psychiatry,
58(Suppl 2), S187.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C.M., & Ormston, R. (2013). Qualitative research practice: A
guide for social science students and researchers. London: SAGE.
Rogers, T. P., Blackwood, N., Farnham, F., Pickup, G., & Watts, M. (2009). Reformulating
fitness to plead: A qualitative study. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology,
20(6), 815-834.

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Court Observation And Summary
Stewart, S., Woodward, M., & Hepner, I. (2015). Fitness to stand trial, human rights and
possibilities from England and Wales. J Law Med, 22(4), 886-899.
van der Wijngaart, S., Hawkins, R., & Golus, P. (2015). The role of psychologists in the South
Australian fitness to stand trial process. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 22(1), 75-
93.
White, A. J., Batchelor, J., Pulman, S., & Howard, D. (2015). Fitness to stand trial: Views of
criminal lawyers and forensic mental health experts regarding the role of
neuropsychological assessment. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 22(6), 880-889.
White, A.J., Meares, S., & Batchelor, J. (2013). The role of cognition in fitness to stand trial: a
systematic review. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology. doi:10.1080/
14789949.2013.868916
Young, J. T., Davis, F. J., Wardale, S., Vassos, M., van Dooren, K., Nankervis, K., & Lennox, N.
G. (2018). The severity of cognitive disability and mental health court determinations
about fitness to stand trial. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 62(2), 126-139.